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TOP 500 REVIEWERon April 15, 2016
I stopped using my kindle keyboard 3G due to the screen dimness that prevented me from reading in the dark so I gladly traded it in for a Kindle Paperwhite Wifi on a trade-in promotion. However, I was disappointed with the noticeable blotchy darkness on the bottom half of the screen as soon as I turned it on, and then found the earlier negative customer reviews that reported the same issue which obviously had not been corrected since its release last year. The problem seems to be due to the backlight bleeding from how the screen is manufactured, and some devices seem to have more pronounced issues than others. I contacted Amazon and they promised to send a replacement that had been "thoroughly tested", but the replacement also has darker areas near the bottom although less pronounced. I decided to keep the replacement since the dark spots aren't as noticeable when I lower the brightness on the tablet, and I didn't want to gamble on attaining a better replacement. Otherwise, I'm glad I chose the Paperwhite over the Voyage for trade-in because screen tap navigation is perfectly functional and I don't miss the page-turn buttons at all. Some people actually reported disliking the page-turn button because of accidental page-turn press from holding the tablet. The Experimental Browser (how long will it stay experimental?) is still useless and slow which is very disappointing. I see absolutely no point in paying for the 3G option with cellphone Personal Hotspot and ubiquitous free wifi is availability while traveling. Otherwise, the e-reader is great with many improved functions and less strain on my eyes along with weeks-long battery life.
Post update minutes later:
I've originally submitted photos of the dark spots and backlight bleeds along with my written review and Amazon rejected the review claiming that I did not follow the review guidelines. I posted the same review without the photos, and it was then accepted and posted. This is happening to me more frequently lately and it seems Amazon is moderating valid reviews, which I feel is unethical.
Post update minutes later:
I've originally submitted photos of the dark spots and backlight bleeds along with my written review and Amazon rejected the review claiming that I did not follow the review guidelines. I posted the same review without the photos, and it was then accepted and posted. This is happening to me more frequently lately and it seems Amazon is moderating valid reviews, which I feel is unethical.
on September 12, 2015
Amazon calls this the "All-new Kindle Paperwhite." What it really is, is the Paperwhite 3 or the Paperwhite (2015)
It's pretty much the same thing as the Paperwhite 2 but with double the pixels and a slightly faster processor and more RAM. With double the pixels, the PW3 is indeed much clearer. That is GOOD!
STAR DEDUCTION: The quality control on these is pretty sad. If you look as reviews from actual review sites and on here... some people find the frontlight very blue, some find it more yellow. My first PW3 had a horrendous frontlight - it was blue on the bottom of the screen and yellow on top and there were dizzying black spots on the bottom. I traded that in for another after much ado and it is better but still not as good as my PW2 which is a very even, warm, yellowish glow. Why is this iteration a step backwards in this regard? Why can't they put a new screen in without messing up the lights that they fixed from PW1 to PW2?
I've attached pictures to demonstrate all I've said here and I'll link to the imgur album so you can see the high quality versions: http://imgur.com/a/CXYw4
It's pretty much the same thing as the Paperwhite 2 but with double the pixels and a slightly faster processor and more RAM. With double the pixels, the PW3 is indeed much clearer. That is GOOD!
STAR DEDUCTION: The quality control on these is pretty sad. If you look as reviews from actual review sites and on here... some people find the frontlight very blue, some find it more yellow. My first PW3 had a horrendous frontlight - it was blue on the bottom of the screen and yellow on top and there were dizzying black spots on the bottom. I traded that in for another after much ado and it is better but still not as good as my PW2 which is a very even, warm, yellowish glow. Why is this iteration a step backwards in this regard? Why can't they put a new screen in without messing up the lights that they fixed from PW1 to PW2?
I've attached pictures to demonstrate all I've said here and I'll link to the imgur album so you can see the high quality versions: http://imgur.com/a/CXYw4
on November 29, 2015
UPDATE: My video on YT of poor performance garnered a comment that the latest software might help. I found that while the documentation says that the Kindle will update itself, in fact mine was on an old firmware version. I used my laptop to get the update and apply it. In the last week I have not had any instance of the terrible performance. If it remains this way, then I'm happy. In case you want to see how slow it was, check out my YouTube video: [...]
Original review:
I am a long, long time Kindle user. I have read the LATimes on a Kindle every day for the last 5 years - maybe 10. I have used the one with the single navigation button for years. A few years back I bought a touch screen version and returned it a day later; I was accidentally touching the screen and the newspaper navigation was just horrible. Instead of the Kindle fading away I found that it was always present while reading. I went back to my single jog button version.
Yesterday bought a Paperwhite. Wow! The user interface for newspaper reading is much improved. I feel like Amazon listened to customer feedback and fixed it. I really like the Paperwhite, but I have several suggestions to make the UI better for readers of a newspaper.
a) When reading an article, tapping the bottom of the screen advances to the next article. I sometimes tap it by mistake, or even tap it twice. There is no easy way to go back one article. [UPDATE: A swipe up will move back one article.] I suggest having a small area on the left side of the screen bottom that would go back one article; similar to the back one page area.
b) When viewing the newspaper contents in list mode a swipe up in the articles list will advance to the next page of articles. However, if you are already at the last of the articles in the current section, then nothing happens. Instead I have to tap on the next section. I suggest that a swipe up in this case should advance to the next section and advance the articles list to show the first page of articles in that section. This is what the next/previous page buttons did on my older Kindle and I liked that very much.
c) [UPDATE: Get the latest software.] Sometimes the display responds quickly to my tap and sometimes not. The sluggish response can cause me to tap the article advance area at the bottom of the screen twice (see my comment a above). I suggest that the Kindle should always quickly flash very small areas in the four corners of the display when a tap is recognized. This would let the user know that the Kindle is working on the action and avoid my inadvertent double taps. If the corner taps are too distracting when reading a page of content, then I might only do the flash on taps that invoke anything except "next page." I think that once a user thinks about going back or up or anything other than "next page", they are already out of reading flow and aware that they have a Kindle in their hand instead of a book.
Thanks for listening,
Jim Schrempp
Original review:
I am a long, long time Kindle user. I have read the LATimes on a Kindle every day for the last 5 years - maybe 10. I have used the one with the single navigation button for years. A few years back I bought a touch screen version and returned it a day later; I was accidentally touching the screen and the newspaper navigation was just horrible. Instead of the Kindle fading away I found that it was always present while reading. I went back to my single jog button version.
Yesterday bought a Paperwhite. Wow! The user interface for newspaper reading is much improved. I feel like Amazon listened to customer feedback and fixed it. I really like the Paperwhite, but I have several suggestions to make the UI better for readers of a newspaper.
a) When reading an article, tapping the bottom of the screen advances to the next article. I sometimes tap it by mistake, or even tap it twice. There is no easy way to go back one article. [UPDATE: A swipe up will move back one article.] I suggest having a small area on the left side of the screen bottom that would go back one article; similar to the back one page area.
b) When viewing the newspaper contents in list mode a swipe up in the articles list will advance to the next page of articles. However, if you are already at the last of the articles in the current section, then nothing happens. Instead I have to tap on the next section. I suggest that a swipe up in this case should advance to the next section and advance the articles list to show the first page of articles in that section. This is what the next/previous page buttons did on my older Kindle and I liked that very much.
c) [UPDATE: Get the latest software.] Sometimes the display responds quickly to my tap and sometimes not. The sluggish response can cause me to tap the article advance area at the bottom of the screen twice (see my comment a above). I suggest that the Kindle should always quickly flash very small areas in the four corners of the display when a tap is recognized. This would let the user know that the Kindle is working on the action and avoid my inadvertent double taps. If the corner taps are too distracting when reading a page of content, then I might only do the flash on taps that invoke anything except "next page." I think that once a user thinks about going back or up or anything other than "next page", they are already out of reading flow and aware that they have a Kindle in their hand instead of a book.
Thanks for listening,
Jim Schrempp
on December 5, 2015
After reading many conflicting reviews about the Paperwhite lighting, I've decided to contribute my own review. I've waited years to try the Paperwhite, hoping that during that time, Amazon would improve on the lighting issues that the first Paperwhite had (shadowing at the bottom of the screen). This is my second Kindle, my first being the 5th Gen Kindle with the navigation buttons.
When I received the Paperwhite, I was initially quite impressed with it, until I noticed that the lighting was uneven. The bottom right corner of the screen had a light that was "outperforming" the other three, causing that quadrant to be brighter than the rest of the screen. I kept telling myself it was a small issue, but in the end I couldn't overlook it and had to request for an exchange. Mind you, Amazon does not make this process easy for Kindles. I first had an chat with the Customer Service online, got transferred twice and had to explain the problems repeatedly and go through the steps they wanted me to try. Finally, they approved the replacement and assured me the order was put in for me and I would receive an email about it in 24 hours. 24 hours passed and I did not get an update, so I phoned in this time and the representative checked and saw that the replacement order was never put in, and that he would do so for me on the spot. I usually have great experiences with Amazon's Customer Service, so this was a bit surprising for me.
The second Paperwhite arrived, and I eagerly tested it out. This one seemed to have even lighting but looked rather different for some reason, so I put it next to the first Paperwhite and was rather shocked to see that the lighting was really different. The first Paperwhite was "whiter" and the second had a warmer tone (see photos). They were both equally bright, and while I was initially disappointed, I realized that the "whiter" light was actually blue light, which is actually more strenuous on the eyes. The warm tone of the second Paperwhite made the light feel less noticeable and more natural. Not wanting to go through the hassle of another replacement, I returned the first Paperwhite and stuck with the warm tone Paperwhite, which I'm really satisfied with! You will not notice how white (or not white) it is, unless you have something to compare it to.
Backlight review:
They still haven't fully fixed the evenness of the lighting at the bottom of the screen - you can still see little shadows cast by the lights, but it is not too noticeable unless you want to be really picky about it - but you don't really read anything that low on the screen at night, do you? If this is an issue for you, I'd recommend the Voyage, which seems to have rectified that but for a much higher price. Other than that, I've found the lighting to be a great feature and I love being able to read in the dark or dim light. It has 24 levels of light, but to be honest, I never go above 12. Also I've noticed that if you dim the settings below 1 (supposedly to turn the light off at 0), the screen is still very faintly lit - this is actually pretty helpful in the dark because it is lit just enough for me to find the navigation tool to turn the lighting up. Not sure how much battery drain this causes, but it can't be much at this low level. Just thought I'd point it out that there is no actual way to turn off the back light without putting your Kindle in standby mode.
Navigation review:
I've found the navigation to be easy, although I understand not everyone feels this way. The touch screen is of course a great convenience over the 5th Gen Kindle navigation buttons. Downloading my books off the cloud storage was easy enough. The only annoyance I have is that the menu now shows all items regardless of whether they are in a collection or not. In the older Kindles, books placed in a collection are taken off the list and show up when you enter their collection folder... Similar to how you sort files into folders on your computer. This new sorting feature just made things more cluttered to me, even though you can sort it to show only collections, but it won't show books that aren't in a collection. I hope they release an update that restores the older organization methods.
Usability review:
The touch screen is matte, so finger prints are not a problem, and I guess it makes it feel more like a book page if you swipe it instead of tapping it. It is quite sensitive most of the time, and I've not had an issue with this aspect. The only gripe I have is that I miss the page turning buttons of my old Kindle, and I wish they included them with the newer generation Kindles. Touch navigation is great, but the page turning buttons allow you to hold the Kindle with one hand and flip the pages with much more ease than having to touch the screen. The Voyage has page turning sensors that function like buttons, but it's honestly not the same. For this reason, I found it very hard to give up my older Kindle - I just love having it as a backup for when I get frustrated with having to use the touch screen all the time. Another issue I have is that sometimes trying to sync up my Kindles can be rather annoying. It takes a few tries of syncing before they finally update the "latest page read" location to cloud.
Screen resolution:
Some people say they notice the improvement in screen resolution. I honestly cannot say that I notice compared with my Kindle 5th Gen. It's a bit hard to make a fair comparison, because the Paperwhite comes with much more customizable fonts and sizes. I found that on my Kindle 5th gen, the fonts were either a little too big, or a little too small. I don't have this issue with the Paperwhite.
Summary
Pros:
Great lighting
Easy navigation
No fingerprints
Sensitive touch screen
Battery life is good
Many fonts and font sizes
Cons:
Lighting issues - obviously, not all Kindles are made with the same tone of lights
Books in the Menu are organized differently than before
No page turning buttons
Syncing can be slow
I meant to write this review to address the mainly the lighting issues, but decided to make it more substantial. Still, if you've received a "yellow" Kindle, I'd recommend not to just give up on it because it doesn't look "white". Warm light is actually better for your eyes. I may not have the paper white (which no paperback is 100% white) Kindle as advertised, but I do love the warm tone of my Paperwhite.
When I received the Paperwhite, I was initially quite impressed with it, until I noticed that the lighting was uneven. The bottom right corner of the screen had a light that was "outperforming" the other three, causing that quadrant to be brighter than the rest of the screen. I kept telling myself it was a small issue, but in the end I couldn't overlook it and had to request for an exchange. Mind you, Amazon does not make this process easy for Kindles. I first had an chat with the Customer Service online, got transferred twice and had to explain the problems repeatedly and go through the steps they wanted me to try. Finally, they approved the replacement and assured me the order was put in for me and I would receive an email about it in 24 hours. 24 hours passed and I did not get an update, so I phoned in this time and the representative checked and saw that the replacement order was never put in, and that he would do so for me on the spot. I usually have great experiences with Amazon's Customer Service, so this was a bit surprising for me.
The second Paperwhite arrived, and I eagerly tested it out. This one seemed to have even lighting but looked rather different for some reason, so I put it next to the first Paperwhite and was rather shocked to see that the lighting was really different. The first Paperwhite was "whiter" and the second had a warmer tone (see photos). They were both equally bright, and while I was initially disappointed, I realized that the "whiter" light was actually blue light, which is actually more strenuous on the eyes. The warm tone of the second Paperwhite made the light feel less noticeable and more natural. Not wanting to go through the hassle of another replacement, I returned the first Paperwhite and stuck with the warm tone Paperwhite, which I'm really satisfied with! You will not notice how white (or not white) it is, unless you have something to compare it to.
Backlight review:
They still haven't fully fixed the evenness of the lighting at the bottom of the screen - you can still see little shadows cast by the lights, but it is not too noticeable unless you want to be really picky about it - but you don't really read anything that low on the screen at night, do you? If this is an issue for you, I'd recommend the Voyage, which seems to have rectified that but for a much higher price. Other than that, I've found the lighting to be a great feature and I love being able to read in the dark or dim light. It has 24 levels of light, but to be honest, I never go above 12. Also I've noticed that if you dim the settings below 1 (supposedly to turn the light off at 0), the screen is still very faintly lit - this is actually pretty helpful in the dark because it is lit just enough for me to find the navigation tool to turn the lighting up. Not sure how much battery drain this causes, but it can't be much at this low level. Just thought I'd point it out that there is no actual way to turn off the back light without putting your Kindle in standby mode.
Navigation review:
I've found the navigation to be easy, although I understand not everyone feels this way. The touch screen is of course a great convenience over the 5th Gen Kindle navigation buttons. Downloading my books off the cloud storage was easy enough. The only annoyance I have is that the menu now shows all items regardless of whether they are in a collection or not. In the older Kindles, books placed in a collection are taken off the list and show up when you enter their collection folder... Similar to how you sort files into folders on your computer. This new sorting feature just made things more cluttered to me, even though you can sort it to show only collections, but it won't show books that aren't in a collection. I hope they release an update that restores the older organization methods.
Usability review:
The touch screen is matte, so finger prints are not a problem, and I guess it makes it feel more like a book page if you swipe it instead of tapping it. It is quite sensitive most of the time, and I've not had an issue with this aspect. The only gripe I have is that I miss the page turning buttons of my old Kindle, and I wish they included them with the newer generation Kindles. Touch navigation is great, but the page turning buttons allow you to hold the Kindle with one hand and flip the pages with much more ease than having to touch the screen. The Voyage has page turning sensors that function like buttons, but it's honestly not the same. For this reason, I found it very hard to give up my older Kindle - I just love having it as a backup for when I get frustrated with having to use the touch screen all the time. Another issue I have is that sometimes trying to sync up my Kindles can be rather annoying. It takes a few tries of syncing before they finally update the "latest page read" location to cloud.
Screen resolution:
Some people say they notice the improvement in screen resolution. I honestly cannot say that I notice compared with my Kindle 5th Gen. It's a bit hard to make a fair comparison, because the Paperwhite comes with much more customizable fonts and sizes. I found that on my Kindle 5th gen, the fonts were either a little too big, or a little too small. I don't have this issue with the Paperwhite.
Summary
Pros:
Great lighting
Easy navigation
No fingerprints
Sensitive touch screen
Battery life is good
Many fonts and font sizes
Cons:
Lighting issues - obviously, not all Kindles are made with the same tone of lights
Books in the Menu are organized differently than before
No page turning buttons
Syncing can be slow
I meant to write this review to address the mainly the lighting issues, but decided to make it more substantial. Still, if you've received a "yellow" Kindle, I'd recommend not to just give up on it because it doesn't look "white". Warm light is actually better for your eyes. I may not have the paper white (which no paperback is 100% white) Kindle as advertised, but I do love the warm tone of my Paperwhite.
on November 16, 2016
The most importantly, it is very easy with my eyes.
My eyes are comportable while i am reading.
Handy size so i can carry in my small bag with me and it is so light so i can read books When i lay in my bed.
It does not hurt my wrist.
It surprised me that it was automatically registered already. I don't know it was good or not but inconvenience for future when i wont use this anymore and i want to give this to someone later.
And,
When i tap ! It blinks totally black and white. The transition!
I have no idea how to explain this scene but this interrupts me and bothers me.
I thought it was something wrong with my kindle paperwhite. In fact, i watched some Youtube videoes and they showed same thing while they were reviewing about kindle, i found out it was normal thing.
Anyway, thank you for fast delivery cost for $12.99!
I couldnt wait for couples weeks for getting this so i rather paid for fast shipping lol lol
And i paid $20 more cuz i dod not want any Ads appear on my kindle so i got without special offer and i think it was right choice!
My eyes are comportable while i am reading.
Handy size so i can carry in my small bag with me and it is so light so i can read books When i lay in my bed.
It does not hurt my wrist.
It surprised me that it was automatically registered already. I don't know it was good or not but inconvenience for future when i wont use this anymore and i want to give this to someone later.
And,
When i tap ! It blinks totally black and white. The transition!
I have no idea how to explain this scene but this interrupts me and bothers me.
I thought it was something wrong with my kindle paperwhite. In fact, i watched some Youtube videoes and they showed same thing while they were reviewing about kindle, i found out it was normal thing.
Anyway, thank you for fast delivery cost for $12.99!
I couldnt wait for couples weeks for getting this so i rather paid for fast shipping lol lol
And i paid $20 more cuz i dod not want any Ads appear on my kindle so i got without special offer and i think it was right choice!
on November 29, 2015
Bought this to replace one that was too damaged to work any more. Unfortunately, the version I had doesn't seem to be available anymore so I got this one. It's slightly thicker then my old one and had a touch screen there the old one didn't, but otherwise it's pretty much the same.
I don't know why the manufacturers of everything with a screen are so insistent on making them all touch-screens, but I wish they'd stop or at least offer versions that aren't. Having to tap the screen to turn pages makes it stupidly easy to accidentally turn the page before your ready and can make it uncomfortable to hold for long periods since it's too wide to hold in your palm like a phone (to be clear, I wouldn't want it any smaller, but if they're going to force us into using touch-screens, there should be more space to rest your thumb).
Don't waste your money paying to make it ad-free. The only time the ads show up are when you put it in sleep mode, and you're not likely looking at the screen then anyway.
I don't know why the manufacturers of everything with a screen are so insistent on making them all touch-screens, but I wish they'd stop or at least offer versions that aren't. Having to tap the screen to turn pages makes it stupidly easy to accidentally turn the page before your ready and can make it uncomfortable to hold for long periods since it's too wide to hold in your palm like a phone (to be clear, I wouldn't want it any smaller, but if they're going to force us into using touch-screens, there should be more space to rest your thumb).
Don't waste your money paying to make it ad-free. The only time the ads show up are when you put it in sleep mode, and you're not likely looking at the screen then anyway.
on October 21, 2015
I finally broke my kindle keyboard reader and went to order a new one. I choose the paper white because of the addition of the back lit screen. I like the size and I like the screen clarity. I am getting use to not having buttons but I think I will like it once I acclimate. I feel stupid for not checking but I never thought moving up to a newer more expensive kindle would take away functionality. I am very sad that the text to speech option is not available. I really enjoyed listening to books while commuting or on longer drives. I actually was in my car getting ready to drive to work the day after I got the kindle delivered before I realized it did not have this feature. I debated most of the day about returning the device just for that reason. But as I noted, I do like the size and screen. I do not want to pay more than I already have for another version that might have the functionality. So I am keeping it. But if this review helps one person in making a decision on what and which to buy, then I have accomplished my purpose.
on April 1, 2017
It has been just over a year since I excitedly opened my Kindle Paperwhite, which was delivered on Easter Sunday. A nice little egg. My first Kindle had been a Touch, which was my favourite, but which met a sad fate stuffed into a small and tight jeans pocket: I bent comfortably; it didn't. I replaced it with a plain Kindle, because Bestbuy was just about giving them away a few days later. It was actually a much more pleasant device to use than I had expected, and served me faithfully for nearly two years. But I was about to move, and therefore ditching as much weight as possible, and I had heard a rumour that there would be a new Kindle with a new processor and more storage, so I sold my faithful little slab. But there was no greatly improved Kindle. I considered a Voyage when it came out, but it didn't seem worth the extra money. Now, a year later, I think it may be.But only maybe.
First, let me put my two largest Kindle complaints on the table, which apply to all of them, except perhaps to the Oasis, and reviews suggest that the Oasis' solution isn't as seamless as one might wish. Amazon claims Kindles hold thousands of books. Maybe, if your books are short. One of the main attractions of reading on a Kindle rather than a tablet is that I just stick everything on in. No downloading if I want to look something up later. But I now have 763 items on my Paperwhite and it has only 1,659 MB free. (It is true, I think, that Amazon count all the issues of one journal as one item.) The other shortcoming is that the battery lasts for months if one does not read often. I use my Kindle a lot, several hours most days, and it has to be recharged about every two days. This issue seems to have been addressed at a cost of one or two hundreds of dollars with the Voyage's case. I have learned to carry a battery pack. These two issues are why I am giving the Paperwhite four rather than five stars.
The Paperwhite is delightfully light to hold and easy to carry. I try to remember to stick it in my back pocket rather than a front pocket. It has shown no signs of wear or abuse, and I have never used a case with it. It is quick enough for what it is. I think there are a few european e-readers with more speed, but none of them have such easy access to the Amazon range of books, which still seems to be the largest and least expensive by far.
The shortcoming that the Paperwhite shares with the basic Kindle, and which had made me consider a newer, more expensive model--I mean, have you held the Oasis?!--is that the touch screen is an old infra-red sensor rather than a real capacitive screen.Typing is often hit or miss, and highlighting is a pain. The Kindle app on a tablet is much more convenient. It's not such a big issue that I am too tempted to replace my Paperwhite with a Voyage or Oasis unless one of those models or a newer model came out with more storage. (In Japan there is a Kindle sold with twice the storage of the base models.)
Interestingly enough, Amazon seem to have themselves made one of the most serious competitors to the Kindle: the Fire Tablet 7. It's a bit large and noticeably heavier, but because it makes no claims about months of battery use, it's easy to remember to charge it daily. The resolution is lower: 167 ppi v. 300 ppi, but the difference seems less noticeable than on Kindle screens, perhaps because of greater contrast. And even at $49. the basic Fire Tablet has 8G of memory and an SD slot.
I have not mentioned one other 'feature' of my Paperwhite, something not available on the basic Fire: 3G connection. I chose the 3G model in a sort of desert island idealism, thinking that if I were on a desert island, my Kindle and a solar charger would let me read every book rather than choose one. I have not found myself on a desert island yet to test it, but I should warn you that it is pretty limited in what it allows: buying books and sharing comments to social media. In other words, buying from Amazon and advertising Amazon. (Not that it really claims to do anything else.)
Bottom line stuff: If you don't take a lot of notes, and find reading on a e-ink screen more pleasant than on a back lighted one, the Paperwhite is a very good machine. If you enjoy taking a lot of notes, I would suggest the Voyage. (Both are on sale as I am typing this. Temptation, get thee behind me.) I find the difference in resolution of the Paperwhite and more expensive models well worth the extra expense over the basic model. Charts and diagrams and such are much more readable. But if you just read books with text--no math or manga--the basic Kindle might be the thing for you. It's even smaller and lighter, and with no lights, the battery probably lasts longer. But definitely consider the Fire Tablet. Magazines in glorious technicolor. And audio, which was one of the best things I miss from the old Kindle Touch.
First, let me put my two largest Kindle complaints on the table, which apply to all of them, except perhaps to the Oasis, and reviews suggest that the Oasis' solution isn't as seamless as one might wish. Amazon claims Kindles hold thousands of books. Maybe, if your books are short. One of the main attractions of reading on a Kindle rather than a tablet is that I just stick everything on in. No downloading if I want to look something up later. But I now have 763 items on my Paperwhite and it has only 1,659 MB free. (It is true, I think, that Amazon count all the issues of one journal as one item.) The other shortcoming is that the battery lasts for months if one does not read often. I use my Kindle a lot, several hours most days, and it has to be recharged about every two days. This issue seems to have been addressed at a cost of one or two hundreds of dollars with the Voyage's case. I have learned to carry a battery pack. These two issues are why I am giving the Paperwhite four rather than five stars.
The Paperwhite is delightfully light to hold and easy to carry. I try to remember to stick it in my back pocket rather than a front pocket. It has shown no signs of wear or abuse, and I have never used a case with it. It is quick enough for what it is. I think there are a few european e-readers with more speed, but none of them have such easy access to the Amazon range of books, which still seems to be the largest and least expensive by far.
The shortcoming that the Paperwhite shares with the basic Kindle, and which had made me consider a newer, more expensive model--I mean, have you held the Oasis?!--is that the touch screen is an old infra-red sensor rather than a real capacitive screen.Typing is often hit or miss, and highlighting is a pain. The Kindle app on a tablet is much more convenient. It's not such a big issue that I am too tempted to replace my Paperwhite with a Voyage or Oasis unless one of those models or a newer model came out with more storage. (In Japan there is a Kindle sold with twice the storage of the base models.)
Interestingly enough, Amazon seem to have themselves made one of the most serious competitors to the Kindle: the Fire Tablet 7. It's a bit large and noticeably heavier, but because it makes no claims about months of battery use, it's easy to remember to charge it daily. The resolution is lower: 167 ppi v. 300 ppi, but the difference seems less noticeable than on Kindle screens, perhaps because of greater contrast. And even at $49. the basic Fire Tablet has 8G of memory and an SD slot.
I have not mentioned one other 'feature' of my Paperwhite, something not available on the basic Fire: 3G connection. I chose the 3G model in a sort of desert island idealism, thinking that if I were on a desert island, my Kindle and a solar charger would let me read every book rather than choose one. I have not found myself on a desert island yet to test it, but I should warn you that it is pretty limited in what it allows: buying books and sharing comments to social media. In other words, buying from Amazon and advertising Amazon. (Not that it really claims to do anything else.)
Bottom line stuff: If you don't take a lot of notes, and find reading on a e-ink screen more pleasant than on a back lighted one, the Paperwhite is a very good machine. If you enjoy taking a lot of notes, I would suggest the Voyage. (Both are on sale as I am typing this. Temptation, get thee behind me.) I find the difference in resolution of the Paperwhite and more expensive models well worth the extra expense over the basic model. Charts and diagrams and such are much more readable. But if you just read books with text--no math or manga--the basic Kindle might be the thing for you. It's even smaller and lighter, and with no lights, the battery probably lasts longer. But definitely consider the Fire Tablet. Magazines in glorious technicolor. And audio, which was one of the best things I miss from the old Kindle Touch.
on February 4, 2017
When I bought this I did not realize that this Kindle does not have audio capability. My old Kindle does and I love it for audio books. My old Kindle does not have a screen light however, and this Paperwhite does. Now if I could get a device with both it would get 5 stars. Audio aside I am quite happy with the illuminated screen, the font choices, and the the device's light weight. It has been a joy to use while riding the bike at the gym.
The only real con here is the price (Amazon has all but eliminated the competition as far as dedicated e-readers are concerned so they can charge more for them than the Fires where the competition for customers is fierce). The Paperwhite has only 4 GB of memory and that is not expandable unlike the less expensive Kindle Fires. The Fires are heavier to hold and the screens are "glarier" than the Paperwhites. But in their favor the Fires are less expensive, have expandable memories, and can be used for everything from movie watching to reading books to checking email, etc. Screen glare can be mitigated by using an anti-glare screen protector. So why would anyone choose a Paperwhite over a Fire? For just reading the Paperwhite is the clear winner because of it's weight, anti-glare screen and the battery life which is much longer than the Fires.
All in all I am happy with the Paperwhite. It is a nice addition to my "collection" of e-readers and tablets. However if I had to choose and keep just one device it would be my 8 inch Kindle Fire as it is a great tablet and a very nice e-reader in one device.
One last comment here. Do not be afraid to purchase a certified refurbished Kindle of any kind. This is my third refurbished purchase and they have all been great.
The only real con here is the price (Amazon has all but eliminated the competition as far as dedicated e-readers are concerned so they can charge more for them than the Fires where the competition for customers is fierce). The Paperwhite has only 4 GB of memory and that is not expandable unlike the less expensive Kindle Fires. The Fires are heavier to hold and the screens are "glarier" than the Paperwhites. But in their favor the Fires are less expensive, have expandable memories, and can be used for everything from movie watching to reading books to checking email, etc. Screen glare can be mitigated by using an anti-glare screen protector. So why would anyone choose a Paperwhite over a Fire? For just reading the Paperwhite is the clear winner because of it's weight, anti-glare screen and the battery life which is much longer than the Fires.
All in all I am happy with the Paperwhite. It is a nice addition to my "collection" of e-readers and tablets. However if I had to choose and keep just one device it would be my 8 inch Kindle Fire as it is a great tablet and a very nice e-reader in one device.
One last comment here. Do not be afraid to purchase a certified refurbished Kindle of any kind. This is my third refurbished purchase and they have all been great.
